Sleeves
by Wongvhan
Summary: Story of the trench coat, and how it comes to love the angel of Thursday.
1. Chapter 1

The trench coat, like other clothes, had no name. It looked like a normal beige raincoat you could see on any street, but it knew its owner was much more than a regular human. In fact, the trench coat was certain that its owner was the most spectacular of them all, for he was an angel.

The trench coat used to belong to an accountant named Jimmy Novak. Jimmy once lived in a nice suburban house with his wife and his daughter. The coat was content, Jimmy wore it almost everyday, and took a great care of it. Nowadays, nobody cleaned the coat anymore. Not that it was dirty, though.

It had been stabbed, torn, and covered in blood so many times in the past three years. It did not know how but, every time each of those incidences happened, it would be repaired as good as new again. Sometimes, it'd be transformed as a part of celestial wavelength and existed between dimensions. Oh, the things it has seen. There was no word to describe. Then, it would be turned back into a regular trench coat on a very extraordinary man. If the trench coat could talk, it would boast proudly to anyone willing to hear of how great the angel was.

Then the worst thing any clothes could imagine happened. The angel walked into a lake and never resurfaced again. He just dissolved, leaving the coat floated without its man. The trench coat started to embrace its end. Nobody would want a piece of ragged clothes stained with blood and black goo.

That when it saw _him_. The beautiful man with a pair of deep green eyes its owner once acquainted to. The trench coat, drifting away, willed itself with much more power than any other fabric did in the entire history. _Let me go to him_. It prayed. The trench coat then felt like it was pulled by an invisible hand and floated to the shore where the man was standing. _Please_. It begged.

The spark in the man's eyes told the trench coat everything was going to be okay. He slowly bent down and reached for the coat, then folded it tenderly. The other two people did not see the man's face. The coat itself did not understand his expression for it was nothing but a trench coat. Though there was one thing; _He loves me_. It knew.

The coat was wet and soaked with blood but the man did not bother to clean it. He threw it in his car's trunk along with his weapons and other weird stuff. The first time it was removed from the trunk, the green eyed man stopped and looked at it like he wasn't sure whether the coat belonged with him anymore. He held his breath and finally dumped the coat inside the other car's trunk.

If it could breathe, the coat would sigh out of relief for that.

It had been moved from car to car so many times it lost count. The man never forgot it, but he did not look directly at it either.

Until one day.

The trunk opened and the man took it out to fresh air. The trench coat was handed to a man who looked pretty much like its previous owner. Only its friends; the suits and the blue necktie, were missing. But the blue eyed man took it. As he put on the coat's sleeve, one after the other, the trench coat knew the man was actually his angelic owner. It felt like home. To both the angel and to the coat itself.

His owner was not the same as he used to be. But that didn't matter to the coat. After the owner woke up from his sleep, he assumed the coat right away. Even though now he would take it off sometimes just to play with bees, it did not make any different. The emerald green eyed man visited him not long after the owner gained consciousness.

The trench coat, until that moment, had been to hell, heaven, and other dimension human could ever dream of. But it never saw anything as capturing as that jacket. That splendidly-cut leather jacket on the green eyed man. They must look nice being hung side by side on the clothes rack together, the trench coat thought. It never forgot the touch of that leather when their owners hugged briefly. Oh, the jacket smelled nice too, the trench coat noted. Our colors even go well with each other.

The green eyed man and the owner were not as close as they had been before. They kept their distance, for his owner's part "fly away" would be the right word. It was funny considering how much they cared for each other. It was also hurt to watch. The trench coat felt lonely when the leather jacket was not around. Why would two people that clearly loved each other choose to be separated? Human and angel were complicated. Being a trench coat was much simpler.

/

Their shoulders brush. The trench coat feels a surge of happiness. Their owners are side by side again fighting the monster and the coat knows that they are more whole this way. The angel will always protect the man. The trench coat may be stabbed again. Whatever. As long as the jacket is safe, the trench coat will always gladly pay the price.


	2. Sleeveless

Like any other fabrics, I have no name. But I am certain he loves me.

I miss my friends. The lack of layers beneath me makes me feel hollow and empty. My owner, too, is hollow and empty.

I was born as a coat. I know I wasn't the most pristine or gorgeous piece of coat, but at least I was clean. I was repaired. Now, I am nothing but a rag. I am dirty. Burnt. Holes are everywhere on my fabric. l lost a few buttons too. You'd think buttons are just buttons. For me, buttons are part of who I am. Buttons complete me as a garment, not some piece of cloth.

My master used to take care of me. He could not care less anymore. Actually, I should be content for him bringing me along. He took me off once when he tried to mingle with those bees. I hardly knew what was going on with him. I didn't care. I still don't. As long as I am with him, I should be happy. This is what I was born to do. I was meant to protect my owner from cold wind and rain. Not that it rains here. But I pride myself in offering him the last and only warmth he has.

He washes his hands a lot. They are not as dirty as I am. I want him to care for me as well. Is it too much for a trench coat to ask?

* * *

The green-eyed man shows up with another creature. I can feel the breath drawn back by my owner. I, too, was stunned.

The leather jacket, torn and worn, is as beautiful as I remember.

When we touch. When the man takes my owner into his arms. I inhale the familiar scent.

I thought I would be okay as long as my owner wore me. I was wrong. I never want to part from this jacket again. Our fabrics are meant to be together even though it is not our choices to choose that.

_Please don't stay apart again_. I beg him. I beg them.

I hope my owner hears me.

* * *

He did not.

He let go of the hand that he desperately wanted to be with.

I would never see the jacket again.

It was not my choice.

Now, I am left with a broken man.

He is left with me. The last piece of comfort.

Who is he kidding?

He knows that I am not enough

* * *

I remember everything although my angel could not. I remember being pulled out of the forest. I remember the black car that drove past us. I remember everything.

Sometimes, I wonder why he still bothers to wear me. Other times, I don't. I am nothing but a fabric sewn together, aren't I?

I thought it was coming to an end. All of this. I was tired. He never fixed me.

But as soon as the green-eyed man comes into the picture again, I received a new life.

He renewed me. He brought back my family.

As he showed the man_ us_ "Better?", I answered him "Better"

Nobody hears it but me. Nobody hears how my owner's heart comes alive again after it long tiresome never-ending beat.

The jacket. My jacket was lost. Nowhere to be found. I mourn for the jacket. But it is an inevitable fate. I understand. I also understand now. The love my owner has for this man passes through me.

I live to protect my owner. So that he could protect him.

He is the cause and the reason.


End file.
